Compact beam expanding system

ABSTRACT

There is provided an optical device, including an input aperture, an output aperture, at least first and second light-transmitting substrates each having two major surfaces and edges, an input surface for coupling light waves into the substrate for effecting total internal reflection inside the substrate, and an output surface for coupling light waves out of the substrate, a major surface of the first substrate is attached to a major surface of the second substrate and the input surface of the first substrate is a partially reflecting surface, such that part of the light waves passing through the input aperture is partially reflected by the partially reflecting input surface and coupled into the first substrate and another part passes through the partially reflecting input surface and is coupled by the input surface of the second substrate into the second substrate.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to substrate-guided optical devices, andparticularly to devices which include a multiple of light-transmissivesubstrates.

The invention can be implemented to advantage in a large number ofimaging applications, such as, head-mounted and head-up displays,cellular phones, compact displays, 3-D displays, compact beam expandersas well as non-imaging applications such as flat-panel indicators,compact illuminators and scanners.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

One of the applications for compact optical elements is in head-mounteddisplays, wherein an optical module serves both as an imaging lens and acombiner, in which a two-dimensional display is imaged to infinity andreflected into the eye of an observer. The display can be obtaineddirectly from either a spatial light modulator (SLM), such as a cathoderay tube (CRT), a liquid crystal display (LCD), an organic lightemitting diode array (OLED), or a scanning source and similar devices,or indirectly, by means of a relay lens or an optical fiber bundle. Thedisplay comprises an array of elements (pixels) imaged to infinity by acollimating lens and transmitted into the eye of the viewer by means ofa reflecting or partially reflecting surface acting as a combiner fornon-see-through and see-through applications, respectively. Typically, aconventional, free-space optical module is used for these purposes. Asthe desired field-of-view (FOV) of the system increases, such aconventional optical module becomes larger, heavier and bulkier, andtherefore, even for a moderate performance device, is impractical. Thisis a major drawback for all kinds of displays, but especially inhead-mounted applications, wherein the system must necessarily be aslight and as compact as possible.

The strive for compactness has led to several different complex opticalsolutions, all of which, on one hand, are still not sufficiently compactfor most practical applications, and, on the other hand, suffer majordrawbacks in terms of manufacturability. Furthermore, the eye-motion-box(EMB) of the optical viewing angles resulting from these designs isusually very small—typically less than 8 mm. Hence, the performance ofthe optical system is very sensitive, even to small movements of theoptical system relative to the eye of the viewer, and do not allowsufficient pupil motion for conveniently reading text from suchdisplays.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

The present invention facilitates the design and fabrication of verycompact substrate for, amongst other applications, head-mounteddisplays. The invention allows relatively wide FOVs together withrelatively large eye-motion-box values. The resulting optical systemoffers a large, high-quality image, which also accommodates largemovements of the eye. The optical system offered by the presentinvention is particularly advantageous, because it is substantially morecompact than state-of-the-art implementations and yet it can be readilyincorporated, even into optical systems having specializedconfigurations.

A further application of the present invention is to provide a compactdisplay with a wide FOV for mobile, hand-held applications, such ascellular phones. In today's wireless internet-access market, sufficientbandwidth is available for full video transmission. The limiting factorremains the quality of the display within the device of the end-user.The mobility requirement restricts the physical size of the displays,and the result is a direct-display with poor image viewing quality. Thepresent invention enables a physically very compact display with a verylarge virtual image. This is a key feature in mobile communications, andespecially for mobile internet access, solving one of the mainlimitations for its practical implementation. Thereby the presentinvention enables the viewing of the digital content of a full formatinternet page within a small, hand-held device, such as a cellularphone.

A broad object of the present invention is therefore to alleviate thedrawbacks of state-of-the-art compact optical display devices and toprovide other optical components and systems having improvedperformance, according to specific requirements.

In accordance with the present invention there is therefore provided anoptical device, comprising an input aperture, an output aperture, atleast first and second light-transmitting substrates each having twomajor surfaces and edges, an input surface for coupling light waves intothe substrate for effecting total internal reflection inside thesubstrate, and an output surface for coupling light waves out of thesubstrate, a major surface of the first substrate is attached to a majorsurface of the second substrate and the input surface of the firstsubstrate is a partially reflecting surface, such that part of the lightwaves passing through the input aperture is partially reflected by thepartially reflecting input surface and coupled into the first substrateand another part passes through the partially reflecting input surfaceand is coupled by the input surface of the second substrate into thesecond substrate.

In accordance with the present invention there is also provided anoptical device comprising an input aperture, an output aperture, anarray of at least a first and a second pair of light transmittingsubstrates, each of the pairs comprising a first and a secondlight-transmitting substrate each having two major surfaces parallel toeach other and edges, an input surface for coupling light waves into thesubstrate to effect total internal reflection, and an output surface forcoupling light waves out of the substrate; for each pair, a majorsurface of the first substrate is attached to a major surface of thesecond substrate, and for at least the first pair of light-transmittingsubstrates, the input surfaces of the first and the second substratesare partially reflecting surfaces causing part of the incoming lightwaves passing through the input aperture to be partially reflected bythe first and second partially reflecting input surfaces and to becoupled into the first and second substrates, respectively, and anotherpart of the light waves to pass through the first and second partiallyreflecting input surfaces and to be coupled at least partially by theinput surfaces of the first and the second substrates into the first andsecond substrates into the first and second substrates of the secondpair, respectively.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention is described in connection with certain preferredembodiments, with reference to the following illustrative figures sothat it may be more fully understood.

With specific reference to the figures in detail, it is stressed thatthe particulars shown are by way of example and for purposes ofillustrative discussion of the preferred embodiments of the presentinvention only, and are presented in the cause of providing what isbelieved to be the most useful and readily understood description of theprinciples and conceptual aspects of the invention. In this regard, noattempt is made to show structural details of the invention in moredetail than is necessary for a fundamental understanding of theinvention. The description taken with the drawings are to serve asdirection to those skilled in the art as to how the several forms of theinvention may be embodied in practice.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a side view of an exemplary prior art light-guide opticalelement;

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a prior art method to expand a beamalong two axes utilizing a double light-guide optical elementconfiguration;

FIGS. 3A and 3B are diagrams illustrating detailed sectional views of anexemplary prior art array of partially reflective surfaces;

FIG. 4 is a schematic sectional-view of a prior art reflective surfacewith two different impinging rays;

FIG. 5 illustrates a sectional view of an embodiment expanding a beamalong the lateral axis utilizing a double substrate configuration,according to the present invention;

FIG. 6 illustrates a sectional view of an embodiment expanding a beamalong the lateral axis utilizing a triple substrate configuration,according to the present invention;

FIG. 7 schematically illustrates the active parts of the coupling-outsurfaces according to the viewing angle and the eye-motion-box of thesystem;

FIGS. 8A, 8B and 8C are schematic sectional-views of optical modules,where two different transparent substrates are optically attachedtogether and one of the coupling-in elements is an angular sensitivereflecting surface, according to the present invention;

FIG. 9 is a graph illustrating the brightness of emerging optical wavesfrom a surface of a typical front-illuminated display as a function ofthe viewing angle;

FIG. 10 is a graph illustrating the reflection curve of the incidentlight waves from an angular selective coupling-in surface as a functionof the incident angle, according to the present invention;

FIG. 11 is a graph illustrating the practical efficiency of an angularselective coupling-in surface as a function of the incident angle,according to the present invention;

FIG. 12 is a graph illustrating the normalized brightness of light wavesemerging from a front-illuminated display and reflected from an angularselective coupling-in surface as a function of the incident angle,according to the present invention;

FIGS. 13A, 13B, and 13C are schematic sectional-views of lateral beamexpander where four different transparent substrates are opticallyattached together and two of the coupling-in elements are angularselective reflecting surfaces, according to the present invention;

FIGS. 14A and 14B are graphs illustrating the reflection of the incidentlight waves on two different angular selective coupling-in surfaces as afunction of the incident angle, according to the present invention, and

FIGS. 15A, 15B and 15C illustrate sectional views of the non-active partof the coupling-out surfaces and methods to block it, according to thepresent invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1 illustrates a sectional view of a prior art light-guide opticalelement. The first reflecting surface 16 is illuminated by a plane lightwave 18 emanating from a display source 4 and collimating by a lens 6located behind the device. The reflecting surface 16 reflects theincident light from the source such that the light is trapped inside aplanar substrate 20 by total internal reflection. After severalreflections off the major surfaces 26, 27 of the substrate, the trappedlight waves reach an array of partially reflecting surfaces 22, whichcouple the light out of the substrate into the eye 24, having a pupil 25of a viewer. Assuming that the central light wave of the source iscoupled out of the substrate 20 in a direction normal to the substratesurface 26, the partially reflecting surfaces 22 are flat, and theoff-axis angle of the coupled light wave inside the substrate 20 isα_(in), then the angle α_(sur2) between the reflecting surfaces and thesubstrate plane is:

$\begin{matrix}{\alpha_{{sur}\; 2} = {\frac{\alpha_{in}}{2}.}} & (1)\end{matrix}$

As can be seen in FIG. 1, the trapped rays arrive at the reflectingsurfaces from two distinct directions 28, 30. In this particularembodiment, the trapped rays arrive at the partially reflecting surface22 from one of these directions 28 after an odd number of reflectionsfrom the substrate surfaces 26 and 27, wherein the incident angleβ_(ref) between the trapped ray and the normal to the reflecting surfaceis:

$\begin{matrix}{\beta_{ref} = {{\alpha_{in} - \alpha_{{sur}\; 2}} = {\frac{\alpha_{in}}{2}.}}} & (2)\end{matrix}$

The trapped rays arrive at the partially reflecting surface 22 from thesecond direction 30 after an even number of reflections from thesubstrate surfaces 26 and 27, where the off-axis angle isα′_(in)=−α_(in) and the incident angle between the trapped ray and thenormal to the reflecting surface is:

$\begin{matrix}{{\beta_{ref}^{\prime} = {{\alpha_{in}^{\prime} - \alpha_{{sur}\; 2}} = {{{- \alpha_{in}} - \alpha_{{sur}\; 2}} = {- \frac{3\alpha_{in}}{2}}}}},} & (3)\end{matrix}$

where the minus sign denotes that the trapped ray impinges on the otherside of the partially reflecting surface 22. As illustrated in FIG. 1,for each reflecting surface, each ray first arrives at the surface fromthe direction 30, wherein some of the rays again impinge on the surfacefrom direction 28. In order to prevent undesired reflections and ghostimages, it is desired that the reflectance be negligible for the raysthat impinge on the surface having the second direction 28.

One of the parameters of an optical imaging system is the outputaperture of the system. Usually, for systems which are designated forprojecting images into a viewer's eye, the output aperture is determinedby the EMB, the FOV and the eye-relief (namely, the distance between theviewer's eye and the output aperture) of the system. For an opticalsystem such as the one illustrated in FIG. 1, a straightforward way toincrease the output aperture along the ξ axis (i.e., the mainpropagation direction of the light waves along the substrate) is simplyto increase the number of the partial reflecting surfaces which areembedded inside the substrate. The output aperture along the orthogonalη axis, however, should also be considered. For a single substratestructure the achievable FOV and EMB along the η axis is not dependentupon the size or the number of the partially reflecting surfaces, butrather on the lateral dimension along the η axis of the input lightwaves coupled into the substrate. The maximum achievable FOV along the ηaxis is:

$\begin{matrix}{{{FOV}_{\max} \approx \frac{D_{\eta} - d_{eye}}{R_{eye} + {l/\left( {v\;\sin\;\alpha_{in}^{\min}} \right)}}},} & (4)\end{matrix}$wherein D_(η) is the lateral dimension along η axis of the input wavescoupled into the substrate, d_(eye) is the EMB along η axis, R_(eye) isthe eye relief, l is the distance between the input aperture and the faredge of the output aperture of the substrate, ν is the refractive indexof the substrate and α_(in) ^(min) is the minimal off-axis angle of thecoupled light wave inside the substrate. For a substrate having thefollowing parameters:FOV=30°;d _(eye)=20 mm;R _(eye)=20 mml=40 mm;ν=1.6;α_(in) ^(min)=40°  (5)the limiting lateral dimension is 54 mm. The longitudinal dimensionalong the 4 axis of the input waves coupled into the substrate is givenby S₁=T*cot(α_(sur1)). For a substrate thickness of T=2 mm and an anglebetween the coupling-in surface 16 and the substrate plane ofα_(sur1)=25° the longitudinal dimension along the ξ axis is S₁=4.3 mm.As a result, the lateral extent of the substrate is more than ten-foldlarger than the longitudinal dimension. Even for an image aspect ratioof 16:9 (as with an HD display) and a FOV in the η axis of 16.9°, therequired lateral dimension is approximately 28.5 mm, still more thansix-fold larger than the longitudinal dimension. This asymmetry isproblematic since a collimating lens with a high numerical aperture, ora very large display source is required. With such values, it isimpossible to achieve the desired compact system.

FIG. 2 illustrates how to expand the beam along two axes utilizing adouble substrate configuration. The input wave 10 is coupled into thefirst substrate 20 a, which has a structure similar to that illustratedin FIG. 1, by the first reflecting surface 16 a and then propagatesalong the axis. The partially reflecting surfaces 22 a couple the lightout of substrate 20 a and then the light is coupled into the secondsubstrate 20 b by the reflecting surface 16 b. The light then propagatesalong the 4 axis and is coupled out by the partially reflecting surfaces22 b. As shown, the original beam 10 is expanded along both axes, η andξ, where the overall expansion is determined by the ratio between thelateral dimensions of the elements 16 a and 22 b.

In order to verify whether the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 2 isindeed feasible, it is important to consider the uniformity of thecoupled-out image. A potential non-uniformity in the resulting imagemight occur due to the different reflection sequences of different raysthat reach each partial reflecting surface in each one of the twosubstrates: some rays arrive without previous interaction with aselectively reflecting surface; other rays arrive after one or morepartial reflections. This effect is illustrated in FIG. 3A (forsimplification, the non-uniformity issue for only a single substrate isconsidered). Assuming that for example α_(in)=50°, the ray 31 intersectsthe first partially reflecting surface 22 at the point 32. The incidentangle of the ray is 25° and a portion of the ray's energy is coupled outof the substrate. The ray then intersects the same partially reflectingsurface at point 34 at an incident angle of 75° without noticeablereflection, and then intersects again, at point 36, at an incident angleof 25°, where another portion of the energy of the ray is coupled out ofthe substrate. In contrast, the ray 38 shown in FIG. 3B, experiencesonly one reflection at point 40 from the same surface. Further multiplereflections occur at other partially reflecting surfaces.

FIG. 4 illustrates this non-uniformity phenomenon with a detailedsectional view of the partially reflective surface 22, which coupleslight trapped inside the substrate out and into the eye 24 of a viewer.As can be seen, the ray 31 is reflected off the upper surface 27, nextto the line 50, which is the intersection of the reflecting surface 22with the upper surface 27. Since this ray does not impinge on thereflecting surface 22, its brightness remains the same and its firstincidence at surface 22 is at the point 52, after double reflection fromboth external surfaces. At this point, the light wave is partiallyreflected and the ray 54 is coupled out of the substrate. For otherrays, such as ray 38, which is located just below ray 31, the firstincidence at surface 22 is before it meets the upper surface 27, atpoint 56, wherein the light wave is partially reflected and the ray 58is coupled out of the substrate. Hence, when it impinges on surface 22,at point 60, following double reflection from the external surfaces 26,27, the brightness of the coupled-out ray is lower than the adjacent ray54. As a result, all the rays with the same coupled-in angle as 31 thatarrive at surface 22 left of the point 52 have lower brightness.Consequently, the reflectance from surface 22 is actually “darker” leftof the point 52 for this particular couple-in angle.

It is difficult to fully compensate for such differences inmultiple-intersection effects nevertheless, in practice, the human eyetolerates significant variations in brightness, which remain unnoticed.For near-to-eye displays, the eye integrates the light which emergesfrom a single viewing angle and focuses it onto one point on the retina,and since the response curve of the eye is logarithmic, smallvariations, if any, in the brightness of the display will not benoticeable. Therefore, even for moderate levels of illuminationuniformity within the display, the human eye experiences a high-qualityimage. The required moderate uniformity can readily be achieved with theelement illustrated in FIG. 1. For systems having large FOVs and where alarge eye-motion-box (EMB) is required, however, a comparatively largenumber of partially reflecting surfaces is required to achieve thedesired output aperture. As a result, the non-uniformity due to themultiple intersections with the large number of partially reflectingsurfaces becomes more dominant, especially for displays located at adistance from the eye. This problem becomes even more crucial for adouble-substrate configuration as illustrated in FIG. 2. Since the lightwaves which are coupled out from the first substrate 20 a, have to passthrough the entire longitudinal dimension of the second substrate 20 b,before being coupled-out into the viewer's eye, the practical outcome isthat the output aperture of the first substrate 20 a is located remotelyfrom the viewer's eye, and the non-uniformity cannot be tolerated. Forthese cases, a different method to expand the input light waves alongthe lateral dimension is required.

To find a proper configuration for the lateral expansion of the inputlight waves it is important for there to be three main characteristicsof the principal substrate, which expands the beam along thelongitudinal axis and couples the light waves into the viewer's eye, andshould not necessarily be fulfilled for the lateral expansion along theaxis:

-   -   a. the lateral expander 20 a should not be partially        transparent, as the main substrate 20 b has to be for        see-through applications;    -   b. the thickness of the lateral expander is not as crucial as        that of the principal substrate, and    -   c. the light waves which are trapped inside the substrate should        not be coupled out substantially normal to the substrate plane.        On the other hand, as explained above, the non-uniformity issue        is important and the cross-talk between the coupling-out        surfaces, as illustrated in FIG. 4, should be avoided.

FIG. 5 illustrates an alternative embodiment for laterally expanding theinput light waves along the axis while avoiding the non-uniformityproblem according to the present invention. As shown, an optical ray 72having an input direction of α_(out1) impinges on an optical element 63composed of two substrates 64 a and 64 b, wherein each of the substrates64 j (j=a,b) comprises a coupling-in element 65 j, a coupling-outelement 67 j, and an upper major surface 68 j and a lower major surface69 j parallel to each other. The lower surface 69 a of substrate 64 a isattached to the upper surface 68 b of substrate 64 b defining aninterface surface 71. The coupling-in element 65 a of the uppersubstrate 64 a is a partially reflecting surface, namely, ray 72 issplit into two rays, 72 a, and 72 b, (usually having the samebrightness), which are reflected from surfaces 65 a and 65 b (the laterafter passing through surface 65 a) and coupled inside substrates 64 aand 64 b, respectively, by total internal reflection. Unlike surface 65a, surface 65 b can be a simple reflecting surface. As shown, rays 72 aand 72 b are propagating inside the substrates wherein the off axisangles α_(in) ^(j) between the trapped rays and the normal to majorsurfaces 68 j, 69 j are respectivelyα_(in) ^(j)=α_(out1)+2·α_(sur1) ^(j),  (6)wherein, each of the surfaces 65 j is inclined at an angle α_(sur1) ^(j)to the major surfaces of the substrates (for clarity, only the anglesrelating to substrate 64 a are plotted). After several reflections offthe surfaces of the substrate, the trapped light waves reach the secondflat reflecting surfaces 67 j, which couple the light out of thesubstrates at off-axis anglesα_(out2) ^(j)==α_(in) ^(j)−2·α_(sur2) ^(j)=α_(out1)+2·α_(sur1)^(j)−2·α_(sur2) ^(j),  (7)wherein each of the surfaces 67 j is inclined at an angle α_(sur2) ^(j)to the major surfaces of the substrates, fulfilling the condition of:α_(sur1) ^(j)−α_(sur2) ^(j)=0,  (8)that is to say, surfaces 65 j and 67 j are parallel to each other, andyield:α_(out2) ^(j)=α_(out1),  (9)namely, the light waves are coupled out from the two substrates in thesame direction that the input light wave impinges on the optical element63. Neither the condition of Eq. (8), or the outcome of Eq. (9) areessential, and the light waves can be coupled out at a differentdirection than the input direction. One condition, however, that must befulfilled is that:α_(out2) ^(a)=α_(out2) ^(b),  (10)meaning that for each light wave the coupling-out direction from the twosubstrates should be identical, otherwise, the coupled-out image will bedistorted and image quality will be severely deteriorated. Inserting Eq.(10) into Eq. (7) yields the following condition:α_(sur1) ^(a)−α_(sur2) ^(a)=α_(sur1) ^(b)−α_(sur2) ^(b),  (11)namely, the angular deviation between the coupling-in surface and thecoupling-out surface should be identical for both substrates. Thesimplest way to fabricate the substrates that fulfill the requirement ofEq. (11) is to set the angular deviation to zero, that is, to fabricatea substrate where the input and the output surfaces are parallel to eachother. In addition to the inclination angles of the input and the outputsurfaces, the two substrates may possess other different parameters,such as the thickness and the refractive index of the optical materialfrom which the substrate is fabricated.

Since the interface surface 71 is active in trapping the light wavesinside the substrates, an isolation layer must be preserved in theinterface surface to ensure the trapping of the image rays inside thesubstrate by total internal reflection. A possible way to achieve thisis to use an air gap between the substrates. In order to achieve a rigidsystem, it is preferable, however, to apply an optical adhesive in theinterface plane, in order to cement the substrates together. Since ray72 a passes through the interface surface 71 before being coupled outfrom the element 63, an appropriate AR coating can be applied to theinterface surface, in order to minimize the Fresnel reflections fromthis plane. This approach is illustrated herein with an optical systemhaving the following parameters:α_(sur1)=α_(sur2)=14°;F _(out)={20°,45°};F _(in)={48°,73°},F _(sur1) =F _(sur2)={34°,59°}  (12)where, F_(in) and F_(out) are the angular spectrums of the light wavesinside and outside the substrates, respectively, and F_(sur1) andF_(sur2) are the angular spectrums of the incident angles of the lightwaves impinging on the input and the output surfaces, respectively. Thelight waves are s-polarized. The optical material of the substrates 64 jis Schott N-SF57, having a refractive index of ν_(d)=1.8467, and theoptical adhesive is NOA 1315, having a refractive index of ν_(d)=1.315.The critical angle is therefore α_(cr)=45.4°. All of the optical rayswhich are trapped inside the substrates have an off-axis angle higherthan the critical angle, and they are therefore totally reflected fromthe interface plane 71. The FOV of the image is 25° inside the glassmaterial. For the viewer's eye, the FOV in the air is 47.1°.

As illustrated in FIG. 5, the output aperture of the optical element 63,which is determined by the projection of the coupling out surfaces 67 aand 67 b on the substrate's major plane 69 b, is substantially largerthat the input aperture, which is determined by the projection of thecoupling-in surface 65 a on the major surface 68 a. The main differencesbetween the embodiment of the present invention illustrated in FIG. 5and that of the prior art, are that in this case, the expanding elementis thicker than that of the prior art illustrate in FIG. 2, since thecoupling-out elements, 67 a and 67 b, are reflecting surfaces, theoutput aperture is opaque to the external light, and the coupling-outangle α_(out2) ^(j) of the central light wave is substantially inclinedto the normal to the substrate plane. These specific parameters,although important for the main substrate, have no particular importancefor the lateral expander. On the other hand, there is no cross-talkbetween the couplings-out surfaces, as illustrated above in relation tothe prior art in FIGS. 3-4.

The embodiment described herein is not limited to a system having onlytwo substrates. FIG. 6 illustrates an optical element 74 which iscomposed of three transparent substrates. A third substrate 64 c isadded to element 63, wherein the upper major substrate 68 c of the thirdsubstrate 64 c is attached to the lower surface 69 b of the secondsubstrate 64 b. Another modification is that reflection/transmissionratio of the partially reflecting surface 65 a has been changed toaround one third (reflection) on two thirds (transmission), while thecoupling-in element 65 b is no longer a simple reflecting surface butrather a partially reflecting surface, such as surface 65 a in element63, which substantially evenly splits the incoming light waves passingthrough surface 65 a, to be coupled inside substrates 64 b and 64 c. Thecoupling-in element 65 c of the third substrate 64 c, can be a simplereflecting surface. As a result, the output aperture of the lateralexpander 74 has been expanded even more, on account of the brightness ofthe coupled-out light waves. Naturally, more substrates can be added tothe lateral expander, in order to expand the output aperture evenfurther. For the sake of simplicity, however, a system which is composedof two main substrates will be considered henceforth.

In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 5, it was assumed that thepartially reflecting surface 65 a evenly splits each input ray into tworays having substantially the same brightness, and couples same insidesubstrates 64 a and 64 b, by total internal reflection. As a result, thepartially reflecting surface 65 a should not be sensitive to theincidence angle of the input light wave, and furthermore, the outputbrightness is reduced by about 50%. The light waves which are coupledout from the substrate are not required to illuminate the entire activearea of the coupling-out elements 67 a and 67 b, namely, the light waveshaving off-axis angles in the upper part of the angular spectrum of theimage are mostly coupled out into the EMB by the reflective surface 67a, while the light waves having off-axis angles in the lower part of theangular spectrum of the image, are mostly coupled out into the EMB bythe reflective surface 67 b.

As illustrated in the unfolded configuration of FIG. 7, the two marginaland the central light waves of the image are coupled out from thesubstrate into the viewer's eye 24. As shown, the light waves 75R, 75M,and 75L, having the off-axis angles of α_(out2) ^(max), α_(out2) ^(mid),and α_(out2) ^(min), respectively, illuminate only parts 67 a, 67M and67 b of the coupling-out reflecting surfaces, respectively, to coincideon the EMB 76. As a result, it will be advantageous to obtain an angularselective reflective coating on the partially reflecting surface 65 athat will have a reflectance higher and lower than 50% for the upper andthe lower regions of the angular spectrum, respectively. In such a case,since the brightness of the light waves in the upper and the lowerregions depends on the reflectance and the transmittance of thepartially reflecting surface 65 a, respectively, it will be higher than50% for these regions. On the other hand, for the light waves in thecentral region of the angular spectrum, which are evenly coupled outinto the EMB by the reflecting surfaces 67 a and 67 b, the reflectance,and accordingly, the brightness, will be around 50%, which is lower thanthe brightness at the edges of the image's FOV. For most of the back andfront illuminated displays such as LCD and LCOS, however, theillumination, and hence the brightness of the display sources, areusually stronger at the center of the display as a result of theGaussian distribution of the illuminating light source. Consequently,the non-uniform reflectance curve of the partially reflecting surfacecan compensate for the non-uniform illumination, and in addition, thebrightness of the coupled-out image can be improved.

FIGS. 8A, 8B and 8C illustrate the optical element 78, which is amodified version of the embodiment of the optical element 63, whereinthe partially reflecting surface 65 a is sensitive to the incident angleof the input light waves, and as a result, the efficiency of the opticalsystem is improved, mostly at the edges of the FOV. FIG. 8A illustratestwo rays, 79 a and 79 b, from the same plane input wave having anincident angle at the major plane of the substrate of α_(out1) ^(max),which impinges on the partially reflective surface 65 a. As a result ofhigh reflectivity of surface 65 a at the higher part of the angularspectrum of the impinging FOV, the rays are mostly reflected fromsurface 65 a and are coupled into the upper substrate 64 a.Consequently, they are mostly coupled-out from the substrate by theupper reflective surface 67 a.

FIG. 8B illustrates two rays, 80 a and 80 b, from a second plane inputwave having an incident angle at the major plane of the substrate ofα_(out1) ^(mid), which impinge on the partially reflective surface 65 a.Now, the light rays located at the central part of the angular spectrumof the impinging FOV, are evenly split by surface 65 a. This means thatabout half of the intensity of the rays are reflected by surface 65 a,and are coupled, such as rays 80 aa and 80 ba, into the upper substrate64 a, while the other half of the intensity passes through surfaces 65a, and is coupled by the reflective surface 65 b, as rays 80 ba and 80bb, into the lower substrate 64 b. Consequently, the split rays arecoupled-out from the substrate by the reflective surfaces 67 a and 67 b,and therefore, they evenly cover the entire output aperture of element78.

FIG. 8C illustrates two rays, 81 a and 81 b, from a third plane inputwave having incident angles at the major plane of the substrate ofα_(out1) ^(mid), which impinge on the partially reflective surface 65 a.As a result of high transmissivity of surface 65 a at the lower part ofthe angular spectrum of the impinging FOV, the rays are mostly passthrough surface 65 a and after being reflected from surface 65 b, arecoupled into the lower substrate 64 b. Consequently, they are mostlycoupled-out from the substrate by the lower reflective surface 67 b.

FIG. 9 depicts a graph showing the brightness of the light wavesemerging from a typical front-illuminated LCOS display as a function ofthe viewing angle, wherein the non-uniformity of the emerging lightwaves is a result of the Gaussian shape of the illuminating light waves.The parameters of the optical system are the same as those given in Eq.12 above. The brightness is normalized to that of the central light waveand falls to around 67% at the edges of the FOV. To compensate for thisnon-uniformity, an appropriate coating is provided for the partiallyreflecting surface 65 a.

FIG. 10 is a graph showing the reflection from the partially reflectingsurface 65 a coated with the coating as a function of the incidentangle, for three different wavelengths: 450 nm, 550 nm and 650 nm, whichpractically cover the relevant photopic region. As shown, the reflectionmonotonically increases for the relevant angular spectrum of {34°, 59°}from ˜30% to ˜75%, where it is substantially 50% for the central regionof the FOV.

FIG. 11 illustrates the practical efficiency of the partially reflectingsurface 65 a as a function of the viewing angle of the FOV where theefficiency is defined asE(α_(s1))=T(α_(s1))·C ₁(α_(s1))+R(α_(s1))·C ₂(α_(s1)),  (13)where, T and R are the transmittance and the reflectance of surface 65a, respectively, C₁ and C₂ are the percentages of the light wavereflected from surfaces 67 a and 67 b to the EMB, respectively (clearly,C₁+C₂=1), and α_(s1) is the incident angle of the input light wave onsurface 65 a.

FIG. 12 illustrates the normalized brightness of the coupled-out lightwaves as a function of the viewing angle which is determined bymultiplying the original brightness of the emerging light waves from thedisplay with the practical efficiency of the angular selectivereflecting surface 65 a. As shown, the two factors compensate each otherand the brightness is now substantially uniform over the entire range ofthe FOV. This improved uniformity is achieved without reducing thebrightness of the central part of the FOV.

FIGS. 8A, 8B and 8C illustrate an embodiment wherein the partiallyreflective surface is sensitive to the impinging angle of the incominglight wave and the output brightness has been improved mainly at theedges of the FOV. It is possible, however, to further exploit the factthat the light waves, which are coupled out from the substrate, do nothave to illuminate the entire active area of the coupling-out surfaces,in order to achieve a modified version of embodiment 78, where thecoupling-in element is much more sensitive to the incident angle of theinput light waves and, as a result, the efficiency of the optical systemis significantly improved and the brightness of the coupled-out image issubstantially retained, in a similar manner to that of the input image.This goal can be obtained if a method can be found where the coupled-inlight waves are split in such a way that all of them illuminate only apart of the coupling-out element which is substantially equal to theinput aperture so that the original brightness will be preserved. Toachieve this, the angular range of the light waves impinging on theinput surface 65 a F_(sur1) ≡{α_(min), α_(max)} is divided into threesubstantially equal segments: F_(low)≡{α_(min), α_(m1)},F_(mid)≡{α_(m1), α_(m2)} and F_(max)≡{α_(m2), α_(max)}. The aim of thedesign is that the light waves having the higher incident angles in theFOV of F_(max)≡{α_(m2), α_(max)} will be coupled out from the uppersubstrate 64 a by the coupling-out element 67 a; the light waves havingthe lower incident angles in the FOV of F_(min)≡{α_(min), α_(m1)}, willbe coupled out from the lower substrate 64 b by the coupling-out element67 b and the light waves in the FOV of F_(mid) ≡{α_(m1), α_(m1)}, willbe coupled out from the upper substrate 64 a by the lower part of thecoupling-out element 67 a and from the lower substrate 64 b by the upperpart of the coupling-out element 67 b.

In order to achieve this goal, surface 65 a of FIG. 5 shouldsubstantially reflect all the light waves in the angular range F_(max),such that they will be coupled into the upper substrate 64 a, andsubstantially transmit all the light waves in the angular range F_(min),such that they will be coupled by the reflecting surface 65 a into thelower substrate 64 b. In addition, a part of the light waves in theangular range F_(mid) should be reflected by surface 65 a in such a waythat they will be trapped inside the upper substrate 64 a but will becoupled out only by the lower part of the coupling-out element 67 a, andthe other part of the light waves in F_(mid) should pass through surface65 a in such a way that they will be trapped inside the lower substrate64 b but will be coupled out only by the upper part of the coupling-outelement 67 b.

Consequently, the partially reflecting surface 65 a should fulfill, forthe entire photopic range of the display source, the following threecharacteristics:

-   -   a. substantially total reflective for the angular range of        {α_(m2), α_(max)};    -   b. substantially transparent for the angular range of {α_(min),        α_(m1)}; and    -   c. substantially total reflective for the angular range of        {α_(m1), α_(m2)} at the lower part of surface 65 a and        substantially transparent for the angular range of {α_(m1),        α_(m2)} at the upper part of surface 65 a.

It is possible to achieve these requirements by applying angularsensitive dielectric coatings on surface 65 a, but the process forrealizing this coating may be fairly complicated. A simpler way would beto cement surface 65 a to the inert part 82 of element 78 using opticaladhesives having proper refractive indices that yield critical angles ofα_(m1) and, α_(m2) at the lower and the upper parts of surface 65 a. Thehigh transparency for angles lower than the respective critical anglesmay be achieved using proper AR coatings.

The method for realizing the required angular selective surfaces isillustrated in FIGS. 13A, 13B and 3C. As shown, the optical element 83is constructed of two different pairs of substrates, {64 aa, 64 ab} and{64 ba, 64 bb}, which are optically cemented together to define threeinterface planes, 71 a, 71 b and 71 c, respectively (the subscript thatdenotes the substrate will continue to denote the various parameters orcomponents of this substrate). In addition, surfaces 65 aa and 65 ab arecemented to the inert parts 82 aa and 82 bb of element 83 using opticaladhesives having proper refractive indices that yield critical angles ofα_(m1) and α_(m2) at surfaces 65 ab and 65 aa, respectively.

FIG. 13A illustrates two rays 84 a and 84 b from the same plane inputwave having incident angles of α_(si)<α_(m1) impinging on surfaces 65 aaand 65 ab, respectively. These rays pass through the surfaces and arecoupled into the substrates 64 ba and 64 bb by the reflective surfaces65 ba and 65 bb, respectively. The input light waves substantiallyilluminate the entire areas of surfaces 67 ba and 67 bb, which couplethem out of the substrates.

FIG. 13B illustrates two rays, 85 a and 85 b, from a second plane inputwave having the same incident angles of α_(si)>α_(m2) impinging onsurfaces 65 aa and 65 ab, respectively. The rays are reflected from thesurfaces and coupled into the substrates 64 aa and 64 ab, respectively.The input light waves substantially illuminate the entire areas ofsurfaces 67 aa and 67 ab, which couple them out of the substrates.

FIG. 13C illustrates two rays, 86 a and 86 b, from a third plane inputwave having the same incident angles of α_(m1)<α_(si)<α_(m2), whichimpinge on the surfaces 65 aa and 65 ab, respectively. Ray 86 b isreflected from surface 65 ab, coupled into substrate 64 ab, and coupledout by the reflective surface 67 ab. In addition, ray 86 a passesthrough surface 65 aa, is coupled into substrate 64 ba by the reflectivesurface 65 ba, and consequently, is coupled-out from the substrate bythe reflective surface 67 ba, as required.

Since each one of the four substrates 64 i (i=aa,ab,ba,bb) functionsindependently, there are no constraints on the co-linearity of eachadjacent coupling-in and coupling-out surfaces in each pair. The onlyconstraint is that for each separate substrate 64 i, the major surfacesand the coupling-in and the coupling-out surfaces should be parallel toeach other, respectively. Moreover, each separate substrate can have adifferent thickness, a different inclination angle and even be composedof a different optical material, according to the requirements of theoptical system.

The realization of the angular sensitive reflecting surfaces 65 aa and65 ab utilized in the FIGS. 13A, 13B and 13C is illustrated hereby withan optical system having the following parameters for substrates 64 aaand 64 ab:α_(sur1)=α_(sur2)=14°;F _(out)={31°,47°};F _(in)={59°,75°}F _(sur1) =F _(sur2)={37°,61°},  (14)and the following parameters for substrates 64 ba and 64 bb:α_(sur1)=α_(sur2)=18°;F _(out)={23°,39°};F _(in)={59°,75°}.  (15)F _(sur1) =F _(sur2)={41°,57°}.

The light waves are s-polarized. The optical material of the substrates64 i is Schott N-SF57 having a refractive index of n_(d)=1.846, and theoptical adhesives which are adjacent to surfaces 65 aa and 65 ab, areNOA 148 and NOA 1315 having refractive indices of n_(d)=1.48 andn_(d)=1.315, respectively. The overall FOV of the coupled-in image isF_(out)={23°, 47°} (which is practically a FOV of 45° in the air), andthe angular range of F_(sur1) ≡{37°, 61°} of the upper substrates isdivided into three equal segments: F_(low)≡{37°, 45°}, F_(mid) ≡{45°,53°} and F_(max) ≡{53°, 61°}. FIG. 14A illustrates the graph of thereflection from the reflective surface 65 ab, coated with an appropriateAR dielectric coating as a function of the incident angle for threedifferent wavelengths: 450 nm, 550 nm and 650 nm. As shown, thereflection is 100%, due to total internal reflection, for angular thespectrum above 45.6°, while it is very low for the incident angles of{37°, 44.5°}.

FIG. 14B illustrates the graph of the reflection from the reflectivesurface 65 aa coated with an appropriate AR dielectric coating as afunction of the incident angle for three different wavelengths: 450 nm,550 nm and 650 nm. As shown, the reflection is 100%, due to totalinternal reflection, for angular spectrum above 53°, while it is verylow for the incident angles of {37°, 52.5°}.

FIGS. 13 and 14 illustrate the design outlines and an example of anembodiment comprising two pairs of substrates, wherein the outputaperture is increased by a factor of two, without reducing thebrightness of the projected image. There are systems, however, having awide FOV and an input aperture which is remotely located from the EMB,which significantly increases the required input aperture of the mainsubstrate. In these cases, increasing the aperture by a factor of two innot enough and a higher increasing factor is required. To achieve thisgoal, the increasing method illustrated above can be generalized toincreasing factors of n>2. It may now be assumed that it is required toincrease the aperture of the image by a factor of n. To achieve theappropriate embodiment, n pairs of transparent substrates should beattached together, wherein for each pair the coupling-in, as well as thecoupling-out, surfaces should be adjacently located in the same manneras, for example, surfaces 65 aa and 65 ab, and surfaces 67 aa and 67 ab,respectively. In addition, all the coupling-out surfaces should beadjacently located in the same manner as surfaces 67 i appearing inembodiment 83. The angular range of the light waves impinging on theinput surface of the upper pair F_(sur1) ≡{α_(min), α_(max)} is dividedinto 2n−1 substantially equal segments by setting 2n−2 equally separatedangles α_(j), namely, F₁≡{α_(min), α₁}, F₂≡{α₁, α₂} . . . F_(j)≡{α_(j−1), α_(j)} and F_(2n−1) ≡{α_(2n−2), α_(max)}. Assuming that thesubstrates are denoted as S_(j), where j is the running index frombottom (j=1) to top (j=2n), then the coupling-in elements of substratesS₁ and S₂ from the lower pair are regular reflecting surfaces. All ofthe other 2n−2 coupling-in elements are angular sensitive partiallyreflecting surfaces fulfilling for each substrate S_(j) (j>2) thefollowing conditions for the entire photopic range:

-   -   a. substantially total reflective for the angular range of        α_(s)>α_(j−2); and    -   b. substantially transparent for the angular range of        α_(s)<α_(j−2).

This means that the coupling in element of substrate S_(j) shouldreflect all the impinging light waves having incident angles higher thanthe limit angle of α_(j−2) to couple these light waves inside substrateS_(j), and to substantially transmit all the other light waves towardthe input aperture of substrate S_(j−2).

As explained above, the simplest method to achieve these requirements isto cement each respective coupling-in surface to the adjacent inert partof the embodiment using optical adhesives having proper refractiveindices that yield critical angles of α_(j−2). As previously indicated,the high transparency for incident angles, lower than the respectivecritical angles, can be achieved using proper AR coatings.

As a result of the design procedure illustrated above, the embodimentcomprising n pairs of transparent substrates will have the followingcharacteristics:

-   -   a. aside from the bottom and the top substrates, the light waves        which are coupled inside each substrate S_(j) (j=2 . . . 2n−1)        are those in the angular range of {a_(j−2), α_(j)} (α_(min) and        α_(max) are denoted here as α₀ and α_(2n−1), respectively). The        light waves which are coupled inside substrates S₁ and S_(2n)        are those in the angular ranges of {α₀, α₁} and {α_(2n−2),        α_(2n−1)}, respectively.    -   b. each light wave (inside the angular range of the light waves        which impinges on the input surface of the upper pair F_(sur1)        ≡{α_(min), α_(max)}) having an incident angle of        α_(j−1)<α_(s)<α_(j) (j=1 . . . 2n) is coupled inside two        adjacent substrates S_(j) and S_(j+1) and is consequently        coupled out from the embodiment by the respective coupling-out        element 67 _(j) and 67 _(j+1).

Therefore, each light wave coupled inside the embodiment by totalinternal reflection is coupled out by 1/n part of the overallcoupling-out element. By proper design, however, substantially all thecoupled light waves will cover the designated EMB of the system.

The embodiment of the present invention illustrated in FIGS. 5-14 hasseveral prominent advantages as compared with the embodiment of theprior art illustrated in FIGS. 2-4. The main improvements are that thefabrication process of the multi-substrate embodiment is much simplerthan that of a multi-facet single substrate of the prior art. Inaddition, since each trapped light wave intersects with only a singlereflecting surface there is no cross talk between the coupling-outsurfaces, and the projected image can be much smoother and of a higherquality than that of the sequential multi-facet element of the priorart, wherein most of the trapped light waves intersect many times withthe partially reflecting surfaces, prior to being coupled out from thesubstrate. Furthermore, for the embodiments illustrated in relation toFIGS. 13 and 14, the lateral expansion of the light waves is achievedwithout reducing the brightness of the coupled image. There is, however,a consideration which should be taken into an account concerning theoutput apertures of the element illustrated in the present invention.

Regarding the output aperture, as illustrated in FIG. 15A, a ghost imageproblem might accrue at the edge of the reflecting surface 67 _(j). Asshown, a ray 89 having an off-axis angle α_(out2) is traced from theoutput aperture backward to the input aperture of the substrate S_(j).The ray 89 impinges on the reflecting surface at point 91 a and isreflected not only once, but rather twice, from the reflecting surface67 _(j). As a result, the ray is trapped inside the substrate S_(j)having an off-axis angle α_(in)+2·α_(sur2), instead of the requiredangle α_(in). As illustrated in FIG. 15A, this angle fulfils therelation α_(in)+2·α_(sur2)>90° and as a result the ray 89 is reflectedfrom the second point 91 b, not toward the lower major surface 69 _(j),but toward the upper surface 68 _(j). Ray 89 will therefore impinge onsurface 69, at the angle:α_(in)(act)=180°−2·α_(sur2)−α_(in)=180°−4·_(sur2)−α_(out2).  (16)As a result, after an odd number of reflections from the major surfacesand assuming that α_(sur1)=α_(sur2), the ray will be reflected from theinput surface 65, toward the input aperture at the angle:α_(out1)(act)=α_(in)(act)−2·α_(sur2)=180°−6·α_(sur2)−α_(out2).  (17)

This angle in not necessarily the required angle α_(out1). Using, forexample, the parameters of the embodiment given above in relation to Eq.(15), and assuming that, for example, α_(out2)=33°, the actual ray thatis coupled into the substrate S_(g), in order to be coupled-out as ray89 has the direction of α_(out1) (act)=39°. Hence, not only is the“right” ray that be coupled out as ray 89 missing from the image, butinstead there is another ray originated from a “wrong” direction, whichcreates a ghost image.

A possible way to overcome this problem is illustrated in FIG. 15B. Asshown, a flat transparent plate 93 is cemented to the lower surface 69,of the substrate S_(j) defining an interface plane 96. The ray 89 is nowreflected only once from surface 67, prior to being coupled into thesubstrate S_(j). As such, the coupled ray 97 propagated inside thesubstrate has an off-axis angle α_(in) which is the “right” directionand no ghost image is created in the image. In such a case, it isrequired to minimize the Fresnel reflections of the coupled ray 97 atpoints 98 from the interface plane 96, and it will therefore bepreferable to use an optical cement having a refractive index similar tothat of the substrate S_(j).

An alternative way of overcoming the ghost image problem is illustratedin FIG. 15C. In this figure, the adjacent reflecting surface 67 _(j−1)is shifted rightward such that its right edge is no longer in contactwith the left edge of the reflecting surface 67 _(j), namely the raysthat are reflected at the far edge 99 of the reflecting surface 67, areno longer reflecting toward the EMB. As a result, part of surface 67, ispractically blocked from being active and the segment 99 becomesnon-active. Therefore, the ray 89 having the “wrong” direction, fails toilluminate the viewer's eye and the ghost image is avoided. The exactparameters of the solution to the ghost image problem (if any), namely,which method or combination thereof to use, the thickness of plate 93 orthe shift of surface 67 _(j−1), can be determined according to thevarious parameters of the optical system, such as the required measureof the output aperture, the FOV of the system and the desired overallthickness of the substrate.

It will be evident to those skilled in the art that the invention is notlimited to the details of the foregoing illustrated embodiments and thatthe present invention may be embodied in other specific forms withoutdeparting from the spirit or essential attributes thereof. The presentembodiments are therefore to be considered in all respects asillustrative and not restrictive, the scope of the invention beingindicated by the appended claims rather than by the foregoingdescription, and all changes which come within the meaning and range ofequivalency of the claims are therefore intended to be embraced therein.

The invention claimed is:
 1. An optical device, comprising: an inputaperture; an output aperture; an array of at least a first and a secondpair of light-transmitting substrates, each of the pairs comprising afirst and a second light-transmitting substrate, each having two majorsurfaces parallel to each other and edges, an input surface for couplinglight waves into the light-transmitting substrate to effect totalinternal reflection, and an output surface for coupling light waves outof the light-transmitting substrate; for each pair, a major surface ofthe first light-transmitting substrate is attached to a major surface ofthe second light-transmitting substrate, a major surface of the secondlight-transmitting substrate of the first pair is attached to a majorsurface of the first light-transmitting substrate of the second pair;for at least the first pair of light-transmitting substrates, the inputsurfaces of the first and the second light-transmitting substrateshaving partially reflecting surfaces causing part of the incoming lightwaves passing through the input aperture to be partially reflected bythe first and second partially reflecting input surfaces and to becoupled into the first and second light-transmitting substrates,respectively, another part of the light waves caused by the reflectingsurfaces to pass through the first and second partially reflecting inputsurfaces and to be coupled, at least partially, by the input surfaces ofthe second pair into the first and second light-transmitting substratesof the second pair, respectively, wherein the input surfaces of thefirst pair of the light-transmitting substrates are angular sensitivereflecting surfaces.
 2. The optical device according to claim 1, whereinthe first and the second pairs of the light-transmitting substrates areoptically cemented to each other by an optical adhesive and therefractive index of the optical adhesive is lower than the refractiveindex of at least one of the light-transmitting substrates.
 3. Theoptical device according to claim 1, wherein the angular spectrum ofincident angles of the light waves impinging on the input surface of thefirst light-transmitting substrate includes upper, intermediate andlower parts; the light waves having incident angles in the upper part ofthe angular spectrum are mostly coupled out from the light-transmittingsubstrates by the output surfaces of the first pair; the light waveshaving incident angles in the lower part of the angular spectrum, aremostly coupled out from the light-transmitting substrates by the outputsurfaces of the second pair, and the light waves having incident anglesin the intermediate part of the angular spectrum, are mostly coupled outfrom the light-transmitting substrates by the output surface of thesecond light-transmitting substrate of the first pair and by the outputsurface of the first light-transmitting substrate of the second pair. 4.The optical device according to claim 3, wherein at least part of thelight waves impinging on the input surfaces of the first pair, aresubstantially totally reflected from the surfaces, and at least part ofthe light waves impinging on the input surfaces of the first pair,substantially pass through the surfaces.
 5. The optical device accordingto claim 1, further comprising first and second transparent prismscemented to the first and the second input surface of the first pair byfirst and a second optical adhesives, defining interface planes, whereinthe refractive indices of the optical adhesives are lower than therefractive indices of the respective light-transmitting substrates. 6.An optical device according to claim 1, wherein the output aperture issubstantially larger than the input aperture.
 7. An optical deviceaccording to claim 1, wherein a location on the optical device isdefined as an eye-motion box and a substantial part of the light wavesimpinging on the input aperture of the device reaches the eye-motionbox.